The Adventures of a Gas Station Attendent
by abbiebubble
Summary: A pretty average girl working in a petrol station discovers the most curious site. A mutated, hairless rabbit. Well curiosity kills the cat, so they say, and she finds herself in Thedas with no knowledge as to where she is or where the rabbit thing has even gone. Only one other problem. She is now a he.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Well that's new**

I checked the time on the till for what felt like the billionth time in the past hour. I yawned and looked outside at the storm which was currently firing some lightening at the ground a block away. I say storm because anything with some lightning and thunder classes as a grade A storm in England. The rain is hardly anything new, but even then half of the customers do not really want to venture outside.

My name is Christina; I am a 22yr old that works in a petrol station. I have one hour before the shift change over comes in and the weather shows no time in improving. I picked up a bunch of elastic bands and aimed at a giant spider who had decided to make its web above the confectionary shelves. I'm a terrible shot, I noted as the band when flying behind the coffee machine, never to be seen again.

Another crack of lightening brought my attention outside again, I froze slightly. The fuck is that? Outside, staring at me was a mutated, wrinkly shaved rabbit. It tried to turn and run but just limped a foot or so and stopped to look at me again.

Curiosity won eventually and I stepped outside to attempt to help the poor creature. As I may have mentioned, this is England. We don't have weird and wonderful creatures here, let alone dangerous ones so approaching a small critter of which I have never seen before did not strike me as a bad idea. I would be an amazing survivalist.

The sky continued to rumble above me as I made my way to the creature. I took a deep breath and stepped out from beneath the canopy and into the rain and pulled a face as I was almost instantly soaked. Well it's not like there are many customers to give a good impression to.

I approached the rabbit thing and it squeaked loudly, I responded in kind not expecting that in the slightest. The rabbit mutation started and tried to run again, obviously failing and squeaked in pain some more. I sighed and reached down to pick the thing up. The minute my hands touched the leathery skin of the creature, my world exploded.

I screamed as white hot pain coursed through my body, limbs flailing in all directions as I felt my body hit the floor. And then: nothing.

I came to still on the hard ground with rain still pelting down. Would have thought a customer would have kicked me awake or something, cigarettes are important to a drunk after all. I groaned loudly, my body feeling like it dropped 5 miles. I suppressed a shiver from the cold, since when did England get that cold? Well not in recent years anyway.

I looked up to see trees. Not a forecourt or pumps, trees. I take it I have been kidnapped? Pretty crap at it if they are, given all they really done was move me. Fun night out I guess.

'Fuck,' I muttered, then froze. 'No,' I said disbelieving. The next few minutes could only be described as me groping myself in the rain. The action confirmed my worst fears. I was a guy. Like a guy with a dick and no boobs wearing a bra. I took a few seconds to realise the importance of 'readjusting' and discarding the now useless bra.

First things first, I thought to myself, standing up on shaky legs and making my way towards the edge of the rock I was standing on. An ocean stretched out in front of me, I looked down each side of the coast looking for some kind of seaside town or something. It was then that it hit me, it was dark, unnaturally dark, or rather naturally so. No artificial light at all, normally towns even in the distance will give off some artificial light visible. How far out am I? There are no roads from what I can see, no other people.

'Hey! What are you doing up there?' A loud voice boomed from down below. There was a group of people standing on the gravel beach looking up at me. In armour. Because if you're going to go crazy cult, you do it properly and have freaking massive swords too, I think and switch my attention to the guy currently waving me down and nearly fainted. A massive bulk of a man with grey/purple skin, covered in scars and with an eye patch. Oh, and let's not forget the horns, an impressive set that only seemed to compliment the rest of the creature.

'Oh, hi,' I managed, waving back, my new deep voice wavering slightly.

'Come on down here, there's a giant fighting a dragon near here. It's fucking beautiful,' that's when I fainted.

 _Authors note:_

 _Thanks for reading! This is my first fic I have posted on this site so contructive crit is welcome :)._


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up to the sound of yet even more rain hitting what seemed like a tent. I stayed still, yet clinging on to the hope that I had just knocked myself out and this all was simply a very lucid dream.

'We just found him standing up there on that rock just staring out at the sea,' the familiar voice of that big ox man sounded a small distance away from me. So much for that.

'Think he is dangerous? He could be with the Venatori,' a young female voice said gently that I did not recognise.

'Nah, look at him. There is no armour, no weapons. He is not even dressed for this kind of weather,' the horned man answered.

 _'he?'_ Oh right, that's me now isn't it. And what the fuck is a Venatori?

'What do I do with him?' The girl mused. 'Can't just leave him here, I mean look at him. It's a wonder he didn't die anyway.'

'Ask him, he's been awake for the past 2 minutes,' I started and opened my eyes to meet theirs sheepishly, 'hi.'

The girl walked over and sat down next to where I was laying, I moved to sit up to discover I was currently covered in blankets. I sat up rubbing my temples, attempting to be rid of the incandescent chatter in my head.

'How long was I out?' I asked the girl.

'Couple of days, we are in the area for a week or so anyway. You are in our camp at the moment,' She regarded me carefully. 'How did you get here?'

I sighed and glanced up at the hulking figure hovering over us. 'I don't know. I don't even know where this is.'

'We are at the Storm Coast in Fereldan,' she stated. I stared at her. What? My geography was never any good but what? She sounded English but the horned guy sounded kind of eastern European.

'Where? How did I end up in a place I haven't even head of?' I was muttering to myself by this point, the numbness of the shock from when I first found myself here wearing off and giving way to panic.

The girl frowned.

'Boss, enemies are approaching from the south. Looks like Venatori,' the giant jogged over, losing his massive sword from his back. The rest of the warriors in the camp were grabbing their gear and forming up, ready for battle.

'Shit, ok thanks bull,' She turned to stare at me. 'Stay here.' I nodded and watched her run off with the others pulling out two short daggers from her belt. Bull passed me and gave me a weird look before running out to follow them.

The minute they were out of sight, I stood up on shaky legs and crawled out of the tent. Staying low I peaked around the edge towards the sounds of metal clashing and at the figures in the distance. It was still dark out and they were silhouetted in the dark, only being lit up occasionally in an eerie orange glow as fire appeared to be thrown between them. Does one of them have a flamethrower? Seems unlikely given everything here has seemed medieval so far.

I heard voices outside the camp and swore, ducking behind the tent I was in.

'She has to be here somewhere, the master said it was somewhere here,' The voice was from behind my tent. I closed my eyes and prayed that my body wouldn't fail me now. The sound of the rain was enough to cover my movements I think. I had to move before they came around and found me. Looking around desperately, for some form of hiding spot I realised quickly there would be none, all open tents. A flash of heat hit me and I peaked from around the tent to see two men had finally reached the camp and was currently standing in front of a burning tent arguing.

'You fool! What if she was in there?' One snarled from underneath his hood. The two of them were wearing deep red robes and carrying sticks taller than they. I bit my lip and made my way from behind my own tent and to the next one.

'Let's just find her while the inquisition is distracted and leave already. Why we had to go to this backwater country I don't know,' the shorter of the two grumbled and began searching the tents.

Another flash of fire from the battle behind me lit up the area just as the guy was peeking into the tent I was hiding behind.

'What-?' He said shocked. 'Hey! She's over here!' I ran.

Laughing followed me as I ran for the trees, my already weak legs refusing to co-operate, I gritted my teeth and forced them on. I yelped as another flash of fire hit the land next to my feet.

The ground around me lit up and I froze. Not voluntarily, I mean I was frozen mid step. The two hooded figures caught up to me.

'It's a guy, the master said he had brought through a female didn't he?' The taller one reached up and grabbed my face in his hands as if that would change what he was seeing. I sucked in a breath in shock as voices flooded my mind.

 _Where is the girl? Erimond will have us killed if we do not find her. They said she would be here. They said the Inquisition had found her._

My mind was overwhelmed by anger not my own, images off another man in robes, a sneering face, dark hair falling over his face. I shook my head trying to get out of his grip, but of course, I couldn't move.

 _'Find the girl, the elder one requires her services. Bring her alive. And if you fail?' The manic grin on the man's face sent chills down my spine. 'Do not fail.' He turned and walked away, dismissing me._

The visions stopped, my own returning as I dropped to the floor panting. I looked up at the man who had held me, the fire from the nearby camp site illuminating his features which were twisted into fear?

I don't know, I saw my chance and ran. He did not follow. I ran until my legs gave out, even then I picked myself up and continued on, the adrenaline still coursing through my system.

'Hey! Wait!' I shook my head, they're back. They are going to kill me. I tripped over a root and screamed as big hands grabbed my waist and held me down, I did what any other normal girl would do in this situation and flailed in the general direction of his face until my arms were then pinned down above my head.

 _What is with this guy? He is acting like a frightened child._ I squeaked it's happening again.

'Hey, I am not going to hurt you. Open your eyes. Open your eyes!' The commanding tone had me look at him, his face masked in shadow with the two great big horns sticking out. Satan? Not even religious but it made sense I guess.

 _A letter. 'Hissrad, make contact with the inquisition, join their ranks, gain their trust. You are to gather information on the Tevinter cult agents.' A big sigh before going outside to tell Krem of the new adventure._

'Do you recognise me? Look at me,' my captor stated calmly. I tried to slow my breathing down, forcing the visions to the back of my mind and make out the face of the being. It was Bull. I relaxed slightly, still shaking like a leaf.

'I hear you,' was all I could say, still trembling. 'I heard him too.'

'Heard what? What did they say?' The giant said, finally letting go of me. The thoughts lessened but were still there.

'Nothing,' I was shaking worse now. 'Hissrad go to the Inquisition. Stop the threat. Do we join Chief? I can take them to the Storm Coast,' the words were spilling out of me. 'Krem was always too noble for a 'Vint.'

'Stop!' Bull said, staring at me with a look more akin to fear. 'What are you? How do you know that? Are you a demon? Are you!' the last word was shouted at me, I was shaking, curling up into a ball, tears flowing freely down my face.

'No! I'm just a human, I don't understand,' I whimpered the last bit. Bull sighed and took a deep breath before picking me up. I spent the next 15 minutes listening to his head; his thoughts were spiralling off in a hundred different directions. He wanted to kill me but he had never seen a demon act like this. What to do, what to do. I groaned and closed my eyes trying to block it out.

When he put me down again at the camp, the fires had been put out. The girl, Lilia Trevelyan, Bull's mind helpfully informed me stormed up towards me. 'What happened?' She demanded, her platinum blonde hair, now stained a dirty red.

'They were at the camp,' I said shakily. 'They were looking for someone.'

'Oh yeah, and he can read fucking minds,' Bull angrily put in. I hugged myself and waited for the verdict.

 _-Authors Note-_

 _I may have gotten a bit carried away with this one. Am open to any advice anyone may have. I did write most of this on a coffee high. Do you guys think there should be more in depth editing?_

 _Thanks for reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

They both stared at me, Lilia with shock, Bull with annoyance. Bull had put me down at least and after a few minutes I couldn't take their stares anymore and turned away, attempting to block Bulls thoughts.

I ignored the look they gave each other and pretty much fell to a sitting position against a tree. Graceful as ever I see.

"Well what do we do with him now? We can't just drop him off at Redcliffe after, well, this," Lilia was saying, her pale face looking older in the light of the campfire.

"We can't leave him alone out there, he could be useful," Bull sad. He was currently entertaining ideas of me being a spy. I almost laughed aloud at that. I am the most clumsy person here I am sure. There is currently a dent in my head in the shape of a cupboard door handle from where I face planted it after tripping over nothing.

I tried to listen in on Lilia, nothing. Frowning, I tried again, really concentrating this time. Again, nothing. I decided against trying again otherwise to a bystander, it would look like I was just leering at their fearless leader.

"So, I hate to interrupt but, I can't actually hear you," I said to Lilia who in turn just stared at me.

"So was it a fluke?" I could pretty much see the gears whirring in her head.

"No, I heard the hooded guy," I rubbed my face in my hands. I need a break. "Like the minute I touched him, I saw his memories. The same with Bull, only difference is, now I can only hear that he thinks I have a weird haircut." Bull even had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.

"So, you can only hear people after you have touched them?" Lilia mused, not really directing that question at me, or anyone really.

"No offence but I would rather not test it on someone I am going to be around a lot," I paused. "You have cocoa here?"

"No," Bull grumbled. "I was hoping that the Inquisition would have though."

I laughed, "why would they bring it out here?"

Lilia cleared her throat. "What did you see from the Venatori?"

"Some grumpy guy, Edmund? Eremund?" I shook my head, I was exhausted. "He sent them to look for someone that their master had apparently 'sent here'. They said a girl…" I trailed off as I realised who that girl actually was.

"A girl?" She pressed. I nodded, head still reeling.

"Inquisitor?" I turned to the source of the voice and did a double take. The speaker was a short, dark blonde man who I can only assume was a dwarf. He was wearing an elaborate tailored coat that seemed not to need half of the buttons. His accent was distinctly American because, you know, what is so weird about an American dwarf.

Behind him were two other people, an angry dark, short haired woman who was currently sending a piercing glare towards me. I shuffled my feet, avoiding her gaze.

Next to her was an elf. An average height man with a very shiny bald head. Unlike the other two, he was studying me with a bemused expression on his face, or more notably, my clothes. My gaze lingered on his fancy-stick staff before turning my attention back to the dwarf who had seemed to be talking to me the whole time.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked bringing my head out of its reverie.

" Varric Tethras," he introduced himself and stuck out his hand.

"Uh, I really shouldn't," I looked at his hands as though it were a viper.

"Why not?" The dwarf looked confused.

"Varric, you remember when you said shit couldn't get any weirder?" Lilia piped up. Varric nodded slowly. "He reads minds, and from what we can tell he isn't a demon."

"Not that I can see," the elf said in a calm tone.

"What? No way," the dwarf looked almost ecstatic.

"Glad someone's happy about this," I murmured.

"Believe it, he does," Bull clarified, looking a bit less pissed off. A bit.

"Can you prove it? Tell me some of the Inquisitors deepest darkest secrets," Lilia rolled her eyes.

"Well we think I can only hear people after I have touched them," I relayed, the need of having to explain this so many times was really not helping the whole – pretend it doesn't exist and it will go away - thing.

"If I may suggest a test? I have a theory," the elf stepped forwards. "Do you know if it is just skin to skin contact or merely proximity?"

"Uh," I said intelligently.

"Varric, if you will," The dwarf stretched out his hand with gloves that seemed to match the rest of his outfit perfectly.

I took a deep breath and poked his hand, nothing. I laid my hand on his a bit longer and relief cascaded through me.

"Oh thank god, nothing," I sank back down the tree. The rain had since stopped and I tuned out the others discussions as I stared up at the night sky. I wonder what my parents are doing. My boss is going to be pissed I just left the shop on its own. They probably got ransacked, and I really don't want to be there when the other cashiers find out they have to pick up god knows how many shifts to cover me while I am… wherever this is.

I was interrupted from my daydream by Varric handing me a leather bag.

"They're clothes, yours barely look wearable," he noted. I looked down, he wasn't wrong. They were soaked through from the rain. Both my jeans and shirt had impressive holes in. My jeans, being for a woman, were not a comfortable fit at all.

I nodded my thanks and headed to one of the tents still standing to change. My new clothes were a simple plain linen shirt, and leather breeches. Ever had to put leather breeches onto soaked skin? You people think skinny jeans are bad. It took me 10 minutes to figure out what way they went on and another 15 to actually get them on. The last item in the bag was a thick cloak. I put it on eagerly, this place was freezing.

"You done?" Lilia shouted through the tent flaps.

"Yeah," I replied, she pushed her way in and handed me some leather boots. "We are camping here for the night then going back to Haven tomorrow at dawn." She noted my blank look. "Haven being our base of operations."

I nodded. She continued, "Since we lost half of the tent, you will be in here with Solas, Cassandra is going to be with me and Bull with Varric. " I nodded again, feeling a bit like a novelty car decoration. "Oh and one more thing, some gloves," She threw me a pair of soft dark leather gloves. I smiled and thanked her with full intention of very rarely taking them off.

She spared me one last glance and returned to her own tent. Solas, as it turns out was the elf. He just walked in and passed out. I am half convinced he is dead, if it were not for the light snoring I would have been sure.

I groaned and wrapped myself up in my cloak and tried to sleep before the sun rose.

 _Authors note_

 _Ah not much exciting going on here I'm afraid, had to get this bit out of the way though. But yay we actually got some follows and favourites 3._

 _Drop me a review so I know where to improve for the next chapters. I am going to be editing the previous two at some point next week to account for the change in speech marks as per recommendation from the review. (Thanks!)_

 _As a side note, the bit about the cupboard door handle? That's actually true, got a concussion and everything. It is also worth noting this is not a self insert, the clumsy trait and the job is pretty much the only thing I have in common._


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning involved walking, a lot of it. Granted it wasn't so bad with my new surprisingly comfy leather shoes but I have never been an active person. The most exercise I ever had was when I missed the last bus and walked 2 hours home, and that had nearly killed me.

I had the hood on my cloak up and it wrapped around me tight to begin with, but after the fifth time of walking into a tree, tripping over a root or stone, or in the most recent case, some vicious dust, I had given up trying to stay dry. It seemed kind of pointless anyway since I had face-planted a rather large puddle. Bull sighed and hoisted me up out of the mud.

The Iron Bull was on Lewis watching duty, since he had already touched me and I had yet to get some long sleeved shirts or something, the other people, unsurprisingly, did not want me delving into their thoughts.

Bull, to pass the time, spent the hours spent walking by showing me Thedas in his head. This was mostly because everyone else got annoyed with me asking inane questions about elves, dwarves, qunari and mages. I mean, how was I to know elves don't talk to trees?

"Bandits," Bull murmured aloud. I grimaced and looked around for a place to hide out.

Solas and Varric hung back as Lilia, Bull and Cassandra rushed forwards to meet them. I on the other hand, ducked behind a boulder that seemed to have fallen off the cliff.

Peaking out I watched in awe as Varric fired bolt after bolt from his machine gun style crossbow. Besides him, Solas was twirling his stick around sending some crap towards the bandits. I frowned, each time he did so, the air around me felt suffocating. Like when a train hurtles past you had high speed. I gritted my teeth against the sensation and slowly edged around the boulder in time to see Bull flatten a poor guy with a giant axe.

My vision swam when I stared at the bits of human innards littering the ground. Lilia and Cassandra did not seem to leave quiet as much of a mess as Bull, but the blood. How can so much of it fit in one person? I nearly hurled as my eyes focused on the intestines of the sod slowly flopping out of the gaping wound in his side, the look on his face one of pure terror.

I closed my eyes and went back behind my boulder, trying to calm the ragged breaths that were tearing through my chest. 'Get used to it,' I thought to myself. 'This is your life now.'

After a few more minutes, the grating sound of metal on metal and spell casting wore down. The air was finally still once more. I stood up on shaking legs, Varric gave me a sympathetic look and moved to help the others pillage the corpses. I tried not to look as the mess that covered the dirt track and waited impatiently for them to finish and move on.

"So, why are we looting the dead?" I managed.

Varric laughed, "Money? Secret love letters? Normally it's just old socks." The dwarf shrugged, before turning away and heading up the trail. I dodged the blood and guts and hurried after them.

Cassandra slowed down to walk with me, and after a glare at Varric, he joined Lilia and Bull in discussing some form of battle techniques.

"How do we know you can be trusted?" She said bluntly.

"Why would I lie? What could I do? You know my fighting skills are a step up from kicking someone in the balls and running away," I ran a hand through my messy hair and grimaced. I would kill for a shower.

"You could get close to the Inquisitor, charm her then destroy the Inquisition from the inside out," she declared triumphantly.

"She's really not my type," I said, forgetting for a moment I was supposed to be acting like a man. "Besides, I have no intention of screwing over my rescuers." I tried to smile reassuringly at the woman but it faltered in face of her scowl. Damn she's scary.

"So why are you here?" She demanded.

"Hey you guys were the ones that found me! This is more akin to kidnapping than me infiltrating anything," I held my hands up in front of my in defence.

"Ugh, now you sound like Varric," Her accent made it sound more like 'Verric' but I shrugged it off.

"Tell you what, if I ever betray you I will personally come and tell you so you can stick your big ass sword in my face," I said cheerfully.

"Don't doubt me, I will do it," She warned, some of the threat wearing off as she apparently warmed to the idea. Creepy.

"And now we can be friends," I declared, holding my hands up to the sky. Her gaze darkened once more and ignored me. I grinned and spent the next 10 minutes talking at her about clothes.

Finally, she broke. "How can a man know that much about dresses? I will never wear such a thing! Especially not a low cut…"

"A low cut dress, no lace, that will just look weird. Just a simply blue, no! Purple! Yes, a dark purple dress, short obviously in case you want to kick someone's head off mid battle or something. Kind of difficult to do in a long dress. Don't want it too poofy otherwise you will look like a demon child's doll or something," I mused.,

"Too.. poofy?" She looked confused.

"Yeah, looks really weird on most people with a short dress," I glanced at her. "We'll figure it out."

"No, absolutely not. I will not be wearing any dresses," She nearly shouted that last bit sending me into fits of laughter at the fear in her face.

"No one said anything about you getting into a dress, Seeker," Varric called from up ahead. "The thought of you being remotely feminine is actually scarier than your hatred for books."

Cassandra gave some unassuming rocks a particularly vicious glare. I hummed happily to myself, cheered up immeasurably.

How far away is their camp? We had been going for days now, stopping every so often for me and my weak ass to catch up. The weather was not dissimilar to England. From our starting position it had gone from constant rain, to cold but a bit of sun, occasional rain and now, snow. No rain though, which is nice I guess. Cassandra had nearly flattened me when I threw a snowball at her. So I had taken to walking with Varric and listening to his stories.

I tried to stay away from Bull, not that that did anything to help block his thoughts. Apparently I have some range on this thing. After a few days I had more or less gotten used to it and tuned it out until it became some constant chatter in the back of my mind. He was always thinking, mostly about how to kill people, if someone was a spy or not. I was learning a lot of observation skills from him. And Qunlat. For the most part I would imagine people think in their own native tongue. Bull, I suppose having been living in the South for so long, did both. Mostly in English, thankfully.

Solas was quiet, a few days ago he gave me a grilling about my new found talent, asking some questions I wasn't convinced were remotely relevant but I humoured him. After which he did not speak to me at all, preferring to mutter to himself like a madman.

"Ah, home sweet home," Varric finally said.

"Really? Here in this Tundra?" I said, I squinted and made out a small village in the snow. As we got closer I saw it was mostly wooden huts with one large brick building that looked very much like a church. I assumed it was a Chantry.

"Where did you send the chargers off to anyway?" Lilia asked Bull.

"Oh just to hunt down the rest of those bandits, they'll b back here in a couple of days," Bull replied, studying the village with curiosity. "Not very defensible is it?"

"Its temporary or so I hear," Lilia replied. She turned to me, "Leliana will want to meet you."

"Who?" I said blankly, shifting my weight from foot to foot. I wonder if they have sofas.

"Our spymaster, she will know what to do with you." I nodded. "in the meantime," she continued. "You will have to bunk up with Varric in the tavern." I perked up at that.

"Come with me then, Pup," Varric led me off. I look around at the oddly well build houses and the people bustling around. Outside of the village was a large group of soldiers smacking each other with swords and falling over them just as much.

Varric led me to one of the bigger buildings and to what was his room. After showing me the washing facilities, a bucket and sponge, he disappeared downstairs. I sighed and set to work on my new body, despite the method being crude, it felt good to get clean.

I examined myself in the mirror, it only having occurred to me that I don't know what I look like a few minutes ago. I 'borrowed' a broken mirror shard from Varric and examined my face. My jaw definitely had a stronger line to it but other than that it was not that different to my old self. I still had my cherub like cheeks although more weathered than before. My hair was now a messy blonde mop, I mean it could be worse I guess, I could have kept my long tresses which given the past few weeks activities, would be more than annoying.

After I finished bathing I curled up in Varric's bed, figuring he can kick me out if he wants, and fell asleep to the drunken singing downstairs.

 _Author's note_

 _This was going to be a bit shorter but I got carried away. We will be in full swing soon I promise! Also thanks to the new followers and remember to review! I appreciate the advice anyone may have if it will help improve the story somewhat and I would love to know your thoughts. :3_


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, Butch," I groaned and swatted at the gloved hand poking at me. A harder jab at my side had me squealing and flopping off the bed.

"Graceful, Butch," Varric commented.

"Fuck off," I muttered.

"Not a morning person, huh?"Varric shook his head at me as I grabbed a blanket from the bed and hid underneath it.

Varric navigated my limbs on the way to the door. "Our spymaster wants to see you, I'll wait outside," he opened the door. "Did he just squeak?" he muttered to himself as he exited the door.

I lie there a few more seconds and throw the blankets from my face and sat up. Out of habit I held the blankets up to my chest as I stood up by the windows as Varric had apparently opened the shutters. I laughed darkly at myself, remembering my flat chest.

Do they have coffee here? Hell even tea. I hate tea but caffeine is important to me.

Grumbling to myself I got dressed into my mismatched gear and glanced at myself in the mirror. At least I lost some body fat, I noted. Pulling my gloves on I exited the door and found Varric outside.

 _'How long does Krem take to bind? I'm freezing my balls off here,'_ Oh, Bull. I looked at the massive stone wall directly in front of us. He must be the other side or something.

"Are you coming?" Varric motioned me to follow him. We walked through a bustling village, one glance up to the sky showed that it was early morning. I deduced that everyone here was insane for being awake when the sun was barely up.

Varric led me to a large tent facing their Chantry and motioned for me to go ahead. With a slight smile he turned and left.

I approached the purple clad figure pouring over some maps and reports.

"Uh, hi?" I managed; the morning sun was disagreeing with me.

"You must be Lewis, yes?" She said in a French accent, no, Orlesian.

"Yup, at your service," I lent in an exaggerated bow.

"Enough, the herald has told me you have some unique powers, mind reading. I would like to know more details," She stood imposingly and crossed her arms staring at me expectantly.

I almost groaned out loud from the sheer amount of times I have had to recount this to strangers. I told her everything, from when I woke up on the Storm Coast, finding Bull, the Venatori attack and what I heard from him, mine and Varric experiments on the limitations of my skill to now. The only thing I left out was the gender issue. Given the Venatori were looking for a woman it was likely to be me, but how the hell do I explain that?

Leliana stood patiently and let me speak, her expression mostly stuck on annoyance.

"Who are they looking for?" she muttered.

"A girl? They said they sent her here from somewhere else" I supplied.

"Are you sure they said a girl? Your timely appearance and memory loss is far too convenient to be a coincidence," she turned away and inspected the reports once more.

"I am sure, I mean I was in a panic so I could be wrong but still," I looked longingly in the direction of the tavern as Leliana made a fine impression of a thundercloud.

"You will likely be needed on the Heralds journeys, and especially to interrogate prisoners. I offer you this. We can keep you safe and attempt to understand your abilities if you in turn offer your services to us," Leliana turned to face me, her piercing gaze not wavering.

"I don't have much choice but to accept," I bowed my head to her. She seemed satisfied.

"Go to Harritt, he is the blacksmith. He knows I sent you and has been making you some suitable armour and some better gloves," she paused and eyed my attire critically. "You don't even match," she said exasperated, her stern demeanour shifting.

"Oh I know, it's been driving me insane. I mean what is this? Tan leather with a shirt that was probably once white. I don't know, kind of hard to tell. And what even are these shoes? They look like thick mouldy socks," I broke off and glanced at the spymaster who was currently giggling behind a delicate hand.

"I am sure the blacksmith can come up with something the same colour at least," she said solemnly with no small amount of mirth in her eyes. I laughed and bowed once more and exited her tent.

I stood there for a few minutes lost, where the hell do I go now? I walked past the Chantry and descended the steps there. The next half an hour consisted of me opening random doors and scaring the crap out of people going about their business. I could have just asked for directions I know but that is far too simple.

My investigations had now led me to a pair of large wooden doors, in truth I was watching the merchant barter with someone and had walked straight into it, but that does count as finding something so I am going to take it.

Logic dictates that the smithy would be somewhere near the barracks which were near the soldiers training outside. I pushed against the heavy wood and slipped through the gap I had made with my weak ass.

"Hey, how you doing?" I familiar voice called out. I had already heard his thoughts of course since I walked up to that stupid door.

"Hey Bull," I answered back and walked over to him. He was standing with Krem and a few others from his company I vaguely recognised from his memories.

"How did the meeting with Red go?" He queried, leaning back against a fence that held horses.

"My clothes don't match," I said bluntly.

"Yes, you've only just noticed?" he raised an eyebrow.

"No, just pretended that they were at least a similar colour so I wouldn't go insane and start stealing peoples shirts until I found one that still retains its original colour," I said deadpan and grinned widely when Bull's head declared me having lost my mind.

I squealed when I saw the blacksmith was only a few metres away and left the bewildered Qunari and his men behind.

I flounced up to the blacksmith who eyed me with suspicion and distaste. "Hi! Leliana sent me," I smiled at him.

"Yes," the surly man confirmed and led me to the chest in the corner of the little area he had set up. "I had them dyed dark grey and black for the most part given you will have to be hiding for most of the fighting. You are not trained at all but I have made you a couple of daggers regardless, just in case. I nodded along and he handed me some gear.

He pointed to the cabin next to the smithy. "Go in there and change, I want to see that it fits fine and I know about your little thing so don't go touching me." He gave me one more thing, "Your undershirt as well." I nodded, gauging its purpose.

After falling over 3 times getting the breeches on and smacking my head on a low beam doing the buckles up on the chest piece, then realising I forgot the undershirt and starting over until I mostly had it figured out and wondered outside to Harritt.

"Seems to fit ok but you've put it a bit loose," he tugged on some straps and swear something cracked. He nodded to himself and handed me some matching gloves and a cloak.

I smiled, "at least I match now."

The next day we were on the move again, this time to the Hinterlands. The vast greenery and farmland reminded me a bit of home but on a much larger scale, only with more pissed off mages. I became adept at hiding and sneaking during battles. Varric spent most of the time teaching me how to blend with the shadows but I needed so much more practice. On the plus side I no longer felt the need to pass out every time someone died, which was a lot really. I swear, every mile, the herald and crew would kill at least half the population, it's a wonder people even bothered going outside anymore when they hear her coming, or even that there were enough people to do so.

At this current moment in time I was sitting by a broken bridge waiting for them to finish clearing out the templar encampment. Their rogues were far better than me by a long shot and from what I was told, we were heading off towards Redcliffe. I looked over the map Varric had given me, not far to go really, a few days at least.

"I am telling you darling, that shirt is far too low cut for your stature," Vivienne, the tall imposing mage was telling Varric.

"I am not letting you design my outfits, Iron Lady," Varric chuckled. The herald had found Vivienne at an Orlesian soiree before meeting me. The woman had rubbed me up the wrong way almost immediately after meeting her but she grows on you. After a while I came to appreciate the directness of her speech.

"Shall we continue?" She asked Lilia, who was picking some elfroot and handing it to me to put in my pack with the rest of the foliage we gathered. She nodded and walked up to the bridge and lithely jumped over the break. I groaned, there was only one way this would go for me, and I can't swim.

Hell even Varric managed the jump unscathed, I, taking no chances ran at the gap and hurled myself over landing flat on my front on the other side. But I made it.

"He will never make a good rogue," Varric commented idly as I hoisted myself up. Vivienne smiled, she had simply fade stepped over, saying that a woman should not demean herself without necessity.

I childishly stuck my tongue out at the two of them and continued on walking after Lilia and Bull. We rounded the corner and came out from in the middle of a formation of rocks to see Redcliffe castle in the distance, still standing strong despite the war raging on its lands. I took a deep breath and continued on after the rest of them, one step closer to the mission of gaining the mages support.

 _Authors note_

 _Thanks for the reviews QueenOfDenway and Gemini-Fantasy :). We are heading up to Redcliffe now as you may have gathered but I may need to replay some of the begining quests so I can remember what order they were all supposed to go in._

 _Thanks for following and favouriting :D_


	6. Chapter 6

So I had long since figured out rifts are weird as ell. Everything within a 10metre radius takes on that metallic taste that comes with spell casting, only so much stronger. The air itself looks like it has been torn apart to reveal a bright green underlay. I stared at this one in fascination, it is beautiful in its own way, I thought as it manipulated the atmosphere around it.

This one was different, and is so much more deadly. I watched from atop a rock down at the guys fighting on the ground. The rift still plopped out demons but while Varric had slowed to a snail's pace, even with the machine gun style crossbow Bianca, Bull had apparently taken speed and was smashing his axe around with a terrifying velocity.

I stayed seated as Lilia stuck out her hand and closed the rift. I made my way down from my rock, and then slid the rest of the way down on my ass. The others had apparently gotten very used to my ineptitude and were in a deep discussion about the speed warping rifts.

"The air is a different colour in the slow and fast bits," I commented. Bull gave me an odd look.

"Darling, you have no experience with magic at all," Vivienne said, I wasn't sure if she was being patronising or not so I just ignored her.

"I know much from where I was I could see it, only small changes but," I grasped for an explanation. "It's like how rifts have their own colour." They stared at me. "Never mind, just forget I said anything," I mumbled and wandered over to the gates that the guards were opening.

I was eager to see the town. The only settlement I had seen around here were some random houses dotted around and Haven. The rest of the party were trailing me and I stared around in wonder at the merchants and the slightly more presentable wooden and stone huts and houses.

Lilia immediately went up to one of the merchants who was selling schematics for armour and began browsing. A nudge from Bull nearly knocked me flat. ' _There's a guy who sells dwarven ale,'_ He thought to me. I shrugged and followed him to one of the wooden structures, 5 minutes later we were walking away with some interesting looking ale and some mead for me.

"Ah I missed this stuff," I said grinning.

"Really? You didn't strike me as the type to go for mead," Bull commented, looking down at me.

"There you are," Lilia said, eyeing up our purchases. "They had no idea they were coming. We are going over to the tavern to talk to Fiona now. Lewis," She said to me. "Gloves off, just in case." I nodded and put them in my pack.

The tavern was devoid of drinkers, never a good sign in any drinking establishment. A small elf in deep blue robes approached us.

"Inquisition, I greet you. What brings you here to Redcliffe," she narrowed her eyes at us.

"You did? Or did I miss something?" Lilia countered, returning the look.

"Fiona, darling," Vivienne slipped in. "You look dreadful! Are you sleeping well?" Don't laugh, I told myself, turning my head away to hide my grin at Fiona's expression.

"It does not matter now, I am not in the position to answer for the mages," Fiona said, ignoring Vivienne's comment. "The rebel mages are indentured to Magister Alexius."

I stepped towards Varric, "What's a Magister?" I whispered.

"Big scary mages from Tevinter," Varric replied. So, that's all of them? I shook my head and carried on listening. Fiona left to go and get the Magister, I moved to stand next to Lilia.

She returned later with a tall man in the spiky red robes typical of those that the Venatori wear, only much more elaborate.

"May I present to you Magister Gereon Alexius of Tevinter," Fiona said and stepped out of the way of the magister. He bowed his head slightly towards us, damn, no handshake then. Lilia gestured to me to go with her in the discussions. I followed them into a booth of sorts and tried to casually put my hands in the way. Oh so subtle.

"Before we start, shall we order drinks?" I piped up. Alexius gestured for someone to bring some, looking slightly annoyed with me.

"Now, to business," he said as some wine arrived. Lilia and the Magister instantly went into a discussion about mages and deals. I got bored two seconds in and so I have no idea what they just said. So I knocked a glass over.

"Oh my, I am so sorry Magister," I gushed as I attempted to pat his sleeve dry. Yes! I thought as I made contact with his hand.

"No matter," he said, giving me this look. Nobles and their fashion, important shit. I withdrew my hands and muttered a final apology.

"If I may ask, what were you doing in Fereldan anyway? Before the conclave explosion that is," I asked politely.

 _'Who is this cretin? No matter, the inquisition fell into my trap and I have but one task to perform before I rid the Elder One of this trouble maker.'_ His thoughts went to his son, Felix, who was dying of some illness. Apparently getting this task done will save his son. I shook my head ever so slightly and tried to pay attention to the conversation.

"Felix!" Alexius gasped, the first sign of any emotion, aside from annoyance, I have seen from that man.

A younger man in a similar style of robes, only a mustard yellow, stumbled towards us. Lilia stood quickly and caught him.

"I apologise my lady," he said, leaning heavily on her.

"I apologise, inquisition, we will have to continue with this another time," he turned and called for Fiona, effectively dismissing us.

Upon exiting Lilia pulled out a note from her pocket. "Meet me in the chantry, you are in danger," She read aloud. "A trap, maybe?"

"Not from him," I said. "He is planning a trap for you, just it had nothing to do with Felix or a chantry."

"Do you know more about this trap?" Lilia turned to me, fixing me with her unwavering gaze.

"It involves magic, you, and Redcliffe Castle," I shrugged. "Then he started thinking about his son and red wine stains."

"Ok then, to the chantry I guess," Bull sighed and walked past me, I was attempting to block out some unsavoury thoughts about demons, magic and Tevinter in general.

A rift, just what this day needs. Inside was a lone man firing fireballs at the demons inside.

 _'Fuck the chantry and all it stands for right?'_ I don't even know how Bull can keep a straight face. I giggled.

"Good, you're here. Help me close this would you?" He said to us and turned to continue throwing fire. I smiled and backed off into a corner with my knife, trying my best at stealthing. I am not normally too bad if I don't move. Last time I did I walked straight into a tree which does kind of draw attention to you.

I fidgeted with my gloves while they cleared up the rest of the demons. They were made short work of given the mage had already cleared out half of them and with his added help, the rest were taken care of quickly. I unstealthed and rejoined the group.

"Not much of a fighter I see," the mage addressed me. He was a noble, anyone could see that. His stylised hair was such that he could still fight and not have it flap around all over the place, and still look decent. A curled moustache and a style of robes that was evidently not from around these parts and I am not surprised all of our little group was a bit suspicious of this character.

"So how does that thing work exactly," he turned to Lilia who shrugged and gestured for me to come over. He didn't miss that but let it pass, giving me a curious look.

"Who are you?" Lilia said.

"Dorian of house Pavus. Most recently of Minrathous," he dropped into an extravagant bow.

"Careful, the pretty ones are always the worst," Bull commented, staring down the mage.

Even the big hulking form of the Qunari did not faze Dorian at all. I shook my head and turned to leave. Well I tried, but Lilia grabbed my sleeve and pulled me back. I held back a groan.

"Lewis can read minds. I want to know that you will not cause harm here," She said, not one for beating around the bush I have noticed.

"Alexius was once my mentor," Dorian said. "Felix will be along shortly, after he ditches his father."

I listened to the back and forth between Lilia and Dorian for a while before going outside for some fresh air. I got a few curious looks and whispers from the locals and ignored them, taking to wondering around the market stalls. One sold books, my mood lifted slightly. I loved books. I picked up a few of the tomes and quickly realised that the letters were completely different. That will make things slightly more difficult. I picked up a few; I truly had no idea what they even were, a weird mix judging by the merchants face.

"Doing some research, eh?" I shrugged.

"Just shopping for the boss," I said easily, passing him the necessary coins. I nodded to him and headed back to the chantry after stowing away the books, next to the mead.

"You need to stop disappearing like that," Lilia said when she saw me. "Dorian agreed for you to do a read on him when we get back to the inn. I will want a written report with what you find." She didn't even wait for an answer, turning and leading us to our rooms. And of course I would be sharing mine with the mage. I sighed and followed him in.

The room already looked like he had been here a while. I stared at him. He shrugged, "I have been holed up here for a while."

"So where do you want me?" he said.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked instead.

"There is little else I can do that will have the rest of your companions trust me even slightly," he said flatly. A good point.

I had him sit on the bed and I sat next to him, turning to face him slightly. I looked up at his face and upon seeing the determination in them I took my gloves off and took hold of his own hands.

 _A brothel, scantily clad women strutting around, a bare-chested man sitting across from him. A hand on his shoulder. Magister Alexius. A carriage, an offer._

 _A dark room, piles of books surrounding him, a determination to show father he is not the failure he seems. Gritted teeth, the candle flame flares before sputtering out._

 _Alexius, despondent, sad as he looks at the pyre of his wife. Felix is there, pale but still standing._

 _More sleepless nights, more books, time magic._

 _He was 26 now, in the slums again, watching a family retainer meander through the crowd. A dark smile, a bribe, and solitude once again._

 _Alexius and Felix are gone, more slums, more brothels, more men. A ship, a dented and padlocked door. Hands were swollen and bruised. Home. A plot, whispered hushed, blood ritual._

 _He ran, years of support from distant relatives, a letter. Alexius is in Fereldan. Why? Venatori. Alexius joined them, to save Felix. Felix has the blight. He cannot survive. Alexius has lost his mind._

I let go with a gasp. Dorian was breathing hard, "Maybe you shouldn't tell her all of that, yes?" he said idly.

"Yeah she doesn't need to know all of it," I muttered. "There is one thing I might need your help with." He quirked an eyebrow.

"I can't write," I blurted. His eyebrows seemed to disappear into his hairline.

"No matter, I shall be your scribe," he stood and gave a dramatic bow. I gave a small smile and watched him pull a quill, ink and some vellum from the desk drawer.

An hour later we had a copy we were happy with. I constantly listened to his mind to make sure he was not writing something else entirely and bugged him when he left some things out. "Leliana will find that out anyway," I told him.

He stretched, the silk shirt he was wearing showing off a toned stomach. I averted my eyes, he laughed. "Maybe it is time for bed? She will want us up by sunrise no doubt," I groaned at the thought and flopped down onto the cot opposite from his. I fell asleep to the inane chatter in his head, god knows why he was thinking about theorems now but it worked in knocking me straight out.

 _Author's note_

 _A slightly longer one but we finally met Dorian! I got some plans for dear Lewis and none of them are remotely canon so sorry about that in advance. Also Dorian's flashbacks are in fact canon. They are from the world of thedas books, I still can't get over Dorian is 31 during inquisition. I mean it makes sense but whaat._

 _Thanks to EbonySapphire and Gemini-Fantasy for reviewing. And hello to all the new followers!_


	7. Chapter 7

He is a morning person. Of course he is. Dorian hummed as he bustled around the room. Picking a pen up, putting the pen down a centimetre from its original spot. Pace, pace, pace, back and forwards, opening cupboards, sighing, before closing them again. His head was running off thoughts a mile a minute, attempting to figure out what his former mentor was planning. Theories rushed through, only to be discarded a minute later. He was missing something, he knew but neither of us can figure out what.

I groaned and dragged my ass into a sitting position.

"Ah, you are finally awake," he said cheerfully.

"Apparently so," I ran a hand along my face, noting the stubble there with no small amount of distaste.

"Your fearless leader has already read the report," he said, inspecting the fraying curtains now."I will be going back to your base of operations apparently."

"You mean you are coming back to Haven?" I repeated dumbly, he quirked an eyebrow at me.

"I did say that, yes," he smirked as I blushed slightly, just slightly.

After a much needed wash, we were back on the road. Lilia for some reason had fallen back to chat with Varric, leaving Dorian and I leading the group.

"Please tell me you know where we are," I muttered to him.

"You don't? But you have already come from this way," Dorian stared straight ahead. "Do you think they have noticed we have passed that boulder 3 times now?" I looked at the rock in question and shrugged.

"No, not really. Bull has been staring at your ass to even notice and although I can't read her, I am pretty sure Vivienne is planning her gown repairs," I have never known someone to worry so much about fashion.

"Not much can repair that atrocity," Dorian muttered.

"Well it is better than a sack,"

"Hardly, I am shocked a flock of birds have not mistaken her hat for a tree branch," I laughed.

Haven was as white and dull as ever. I never thought I would miss roads and pavement as much as I do. Their idea of a road was a giant dirt track, the only highway they have is the Imperial Highway which spanned from Fereldan, through Orlais, Nevarra and finally ending in Tevinter. Our trip had Dorian teach me the basics of the common written language, the alphabet that is.

"It is very… Rustic," Dorian commented, as we approached the small village.

"It is suitable for our needs, although a complete rebuild would not go amiss," Vivienne sniffed, looking critically at the crude buildings.

"Dorian, Lewis, I want you in the war room as soon as," Lilia said from behind us. I groaned, I am so not made for this.

I wrapped my cloak around me for warmth and trudged in the direction of the chantry with Dorian and his constant commentary of the buildings making me want to just throw him onto the ice. The village was bustling around as always and I nearly sailed straight into a woman carrying a crate of potions. She scowled at me and hurried on.

We could already hear the arguing the minute we entered the chantry.

"It could be a trap!" Cullen's raised voice became clearer, I lingered outside the door, unwilling to just waltz in.

"It is a trap, Lewis has found out that much. But we need the mages support," Leliana countered.

"Fortunately, you will have help," Dorian announced as he dramatically made his entrance, I rolled my eyes and followed him in.

The plan was clear as day. Leliana's spies will infiltrate the castle using the secret passage she herself had used so many years ago during the fifth blight, Lilia, Varric, Bull and Solas will go in first with me and Dorian hiding out. Something will go wrong, something always goes wrong, what's the fun in it just working like it should?

"We will leave tomorrow morning," Lilia announced, I held back yet another noise of disapproval, evidently not well enough as I felt Dorian chuckle quietly from next to me.

Once back in mine and Varric's room, I found another bed had been placed in the room, alongside a mounted mirror on the wall. I grinned; Josephine must have been listening to my mirror rant.

Standing in front of the mirror, I stared at myself. I need to be manlier. I tried flexing and immediately started laughing at myself; I looked like I was trying to dance to dubstep. Ok, let's try walking. It is not a mystery why Varric calls me Butch. I practically mince my way along. A second attempt at walking towards the mirror, no hip swaying, arms casually by the sides.

"What are you doing Butch?" I jumped a foot into the air.

"Oh, hi Varric," I managed, trying to calm my breathing.

He shook his head at me, "We are having a game of Wicked Grace, you in?"

"I have no idea how to play that," I am terrible at card games.

"I'll show you," he grabbed my sleeve and dragged me downstairs.

Dorian, Bull, Solas, Sera, Blackwall and Lilia were all crowded around a table.

"Ugh finally," Sera complained, shifting over on the bench to make room for me. I liked Sera, she reminded me so much of some of my friends from home.

"Ok, so what am I doing?" I asked.

I lost. Bad. I ran out of money pretty quickly so had to start on clothes. I am currently sitting in my smallclothes, red faced. Sera had long since run off with my shirt, I think it was hanging off a support beam a minute ago, I don't even know how it got there. I didn't really care either; I was enjoying the buzz from the mead.

I leant back in my chair and watched the others play, I had nothing left to gamble with and could not really see straight anyway.

"Hey, you alright Sparkler," I glanced over at Dorian who was glowering at his cards.

"Yeah, you give those cards a piece of your mind," I said, Sera giggled. I smiled at him as the glowering was directed at me. His thoughts were jumbled and fuzzy, either drunken people are hard to read or I can't do it as well when I am drunk. Either way, I have no idea what is wrong with him. Oh, Alexius, right.

I sighed and stumbled outside for some fresh air. The constant white on white was making me disorientated so I looked up at the sky and at the breach. This was apparently after it had stopped growing, and it looked huge.

The door opened, I glanced over to see it was Dorian.

"Hey," I said, going to sit against the opposing wooden outer wall. He said nothing and moved to sit next to me.

"Worried about Redcliffe," I asked. He looked at me strangely.

"You can' just read my mind and tell?" he answered hotly.

I shook my head. "Apparently it does not work so well when I am drunk." He nodded, his posture relaxing somewhat.

"Tell me about your family," he said after a few minutes silence.

"Not much to say really. I don't remember much of anything before they found me on the Storm Coast," I said dryly.

"You sound Fereldan, You not being able to read would suggest a lower class family, yes?" I gave a short laugh. It would make sense I suppose, my own accent fits the Fereldan one closely I would imagine, at home I am working class which I guess is their equivalent of a place to live with a minor job. For a very long time I was homeless, no homeless shelters where I lived meant the streets, bus shelters and the like. Right up until my parents finally agreed for me to come back home.

"Probably," I said, letting him draw his own conclusions. "I mean it would make sense, right?"

Dorian nodded, he looked back up to the sky, playing with his moustache.

We sat there like that for a while. I have always been a lightweight; one benefit of this is that you sober up just as quick as you got drunk. By the time we dragged ourselves inside I had the beginnings of a pretty decent hangover forming.

I wondered to my room and gracelessly face-planted the mattress and fell asleep.

Redcliffe was much how we left it, just with a few more angry looking mages. Dorian and I had followed Leliana's agents and were hanging around near the back of the main hall.

"They know about the Venatori, father," Felix was saying, cutting over the magister.

"Felix, what have you done?" He looked at his son in shock. I looked at Felix, he looked older than what he actually was, his face lined and tired.

"Your son is concerned about you. He said you might be involved with something terrible," Lilia tried, taking the nicer approach than what I would have.

"So says the thief. You are trying to turn my son against me. Do you think that would work? You walk here with a stolen mark that you do not understand and you think that you are in control? You are nothing but a mistake." He sneered the last bit in anger.

"What is it supposed to be then?" Lilia pushed, a confused expression crossing her face.

"It belongs to someone much greater than you. You would not even begin to be able to understand its true purpose," he said. I wished he was not so far away that I could not hear his thoughts. On the other hand I really don't want to know.

"Father, listen to yourself. Do you know what you sound like?" Felix interjected.

"He sounds like every villainous cliché everyone down south expects us to be," Dorian came out from the shadows and into the main hall, I swore quietly and followed him out, why must he always make such a dramatic entrance? Does he even know he does it?

"Dorian," the Alexius' eyes widened in recognition. "I gave you a chance to be a part of this and you turned me down. The elder one has power you would not believe he will raise the Imperium from its own ashes." Well now he sounds insane, I thought idly.

"That's who you serve? The elder one? Who is he?" Lilia demanded.

"He will soon become a god," Alexius seemed a bit distant by this fact, a wistful look crossing his face.

"You can't involve my people in this," Fiona stepped forwards in anger.

"Alexius, this is exactly what you and I talked about never wanting to happen," Dorian edged closer to him in anger, I hovered next to Lilia. Leliana's agents were making quick work of the guards in the background; the Magister barely seemed to notice.

"Stop it father let the southern mages fight the breach and go home," Felix implored.

"He can save you, he promised there, is a way," Alexius' face turned desperate. I almost pitied him.

"Seize them Venatori. The elder one would have us undo the mistake at the temple," he commanded.

This was apparently the cue for the spies to finish killing all the guards, I noted looking around and watching them drop.

"Your men are dead Alexius," Lilia stated the obvious.

"You are a mistake," Alexius ground out. "You should never have existed." He pulled out an amulet and started a spell. Dorian, it seemed was ahead of us.

"No!" he dived across the room and flung out his arm, placing himself in front of Lilia and I. She grabbed my arm as a flash of green light filled the room.

Well great, it's wet again. I pushed myself up into a sitting position. That metallic taste in the air is back but so much stronger. There is magic everywhere. I looked around me for Dorian and Lilia and found them both still unconscious in the water.

"Blood of the elder one, how did they get in here?" My eyes widened as they focused on two Venatori soldiers, pulling swords from their back. I looked around frantically for a weapon. Not much here, we were in a dungeon. The two had come in and one locked the door behind him, putting the key in his pocket.

I edged closer to my companions in a fruitless attempt to protect them. What could I do? We survived all of this and now we are going to die regardless.

They charged. I screamed and flung out my hand. There was so much magic in their air, the metallic taste became almost overwhelming. A scorching heat filled the cell, I felt one of my companions shift behind me and a shimmering barrier materialised in front of us, protecting us from the heat. I stared in horror as the fire that had appeared dissipated and two charred corpses fell to the floor.

I turned around to see Dorian dispel the barrier and Lilia now sitting up and staring at me in shock.

"Please tell me you did the fire thing," I stammered out. He shook his head, still staring at me.

"My magic has never been that uncontrolled, or even that ferocious," he said slowly.

"Lilia?" my voice was shaking now. She shook her head mutely. So it was me. I curled up into a ball, my breaths coming in short sharp gasps. I did that. I burnt them so much they don't even resemble a human anymore. The smell of charred flesh filled the air and the sounds of their screaming, replayed in my mind. Dorian was afraid of me. I could hear his thoughts whirling around in his mind; I tried to tune them out. I tried to calm the choked sobs that escaped me.

"Now is not the time for that," I heard Dorian say from somewhere far away. I ignored him. I cried out in outrage as a palm connected with the back of my head.

"For the love of God, why did you do that?" I shouted at him, I ignored his confused look at my outburst and stood on shaky feet.

"We will figure out the mage thing soon," Lilia said calmly. "You didn't melt the key at least," she commented, picking off some black goo from the key. Eww.

"Well now we figure out where we are, yes?" Dorian said briskly.

You see, this is why I prefer to spend my days sleeping.

 _Whew, that was a longer one than normal. Apologies for not updating last week! Those days off were spent recording a DA:I lets play with a friend for his youtube channel. Message me if you want to see that._

 _But I have some twists in store for you guys, the mage thing is kind of important and should be fun. But we hit 20 followers *celebrates*._

 _Also thank you to EbonySapphire, Kitsu, Gemini-Fantasy, sandradee27 and debatable-cerealkiller for the reviews. Keep them coming! I'd love to know your thoughts on this._


	8. Chapter 8

This place reeked of death. We exited the cell with the key Lilia found, I refused to touch it, even with my gloves on.

"Is that red lyrium?" Lilia suddenly stopped. I looked over to where she was pointing; large formations of red lyrium were jutting out of the walls, an ethereal red aura poured off of it in waves.

"Apparently so," I muttered, grabbing Dorian's arm and pulling him away, "Don't even think about it."

The mage huffed and continued on down the hall. We found Bull singing, naturally.

"Twenty-two bottles of beer on the wall, tw-"

"Four!" I shouted.

"Twenty-four bottles of be- Fuck!"

"Yes!"

Dorian rolled his eyes at me. I just can't believe it actually worked. The Iron Bull was standing in a small cramped cell, barely even big enough to fit his horns in, although I would imagine they did not design these with Qunari in mind. He was staring at us in wide eyed shock.

"You're dead," he said bluntly.

I looked at him properly; the spark of humour that normally occupied his eye was replaced with defeat and a grim acceptance, and red. In fact, his entire body was giving off the same red aura the lyrium formations were. His normally purple-grey skin now had an extra tinge of red, giving him a disconcerting glow.

I pulled myself back into the conversation to hear Bull describe a freaking army of demons.

"You're kidding," I muttered, running my hands through my hair."No I am really now, they destroyed everything," Bull was almost growling the words out.

"Sarcasm, my dear," I replied dryly. Bull muttered something to himself in his own language.

"Bull," I said. "Your heads not making a lot of sense right now, can you show me?"

He stared at me.

"Just think about from where we disappeared, the rest will follow," I prompted and took off my gloves and moved towards him. He took my hands, looking at me grimly.

 _We had tried to run. Alexius' face was a mask of fury, and regret? Why is he angry? He won._

 _Felix stood in shock, with the rest of us, staring at the burn mark where they disappeared with the 'Vint._

 _We ran, they will find us, I know._

 _I was sitting opposite Varric at camp, what now?_

 _The empress was assassinated, an explosion, the sky. The breach was everywhere now, the sky was beyond healing, even for Trevelyan._

 _So many demons, an army marched onto Haven, onto Val Royeaux. They had Leliana; we were going back to Redcliffe._

 _They caught us, Varric is here somewhere. Dead? Alive? Who knew?_

 _Venatori guards came, the red lyrium infecting me from the inside out. I hear the song, tempting me. The only remote comfort and company in this place is its twisted song carrying me along. Will they not just kill me already?_

I stumbled back, breaking contact with bull. Dorian steadied me.

"Lewis?" Lilia looked at me in concern.

"Celene was assassinated, the breach was torn open by the Elder One, a demon army took out everyone, and everything," I shuddered, trying to force the images from my mind. I turned away, "Let's just go find Varric."

He wasn't that far from Bull, I barely paid any attention to the conversation that followed. Varric and Bull fought with a surprising ferocity, figures, this is their last chance to fix things. And ours it seems.

Dorian was furious. Alexius could not have wanted this. He just wanted to find him and vaporise him. I am not too sure if he could but I was not willing to ask.

Fiona did not look so good. She had red lyrium growing out of her. A quick, if out drawn out, discussion with her revealed it had been over a year since we had left. That is all it took. One year for this whole world to go to crap. It may not be my native world but like hell am I going to let some madman destroy it.

"Your spymaster, she is here," Fiona forced out, wincing slightly. Her entire body was slumped against the wall in exhaustion, the lyrium growing out of her being the only thing that was keeping her upright. I looked over to Lilia, her face holding a similar expression her gaze continuously flicked back to Varric and Bull before her expression turned into one of fury and sadness before looking back to Fiona.

We heard Leliana's screams from 5 rooms away. A year's worth of torture had taken a very visible toll on the woman. Gone was the youthful glow of her cherub like face, replaced by a gaunt, hardened shell of her former self. She was far from defeated; anyone could see the anger boiling beneath the surface, barely contained. The only other emotion that I ever saw cross her face was a flicker of surprise at out entrance into the room. She used the moment's distraction to break the torturers neck with her legs, her face twisted into a satisfied grin.

We walked in silence, Leliana's general vibe and unwillingness to answer any questions effectively shutting us all up.

"Maker," Lilia breathed as she peeked around a door. It was the sky. I had already seen it in Bull's memories but actually seeing it? That is something else entirely.

Random structures and bits of rock had decided to say 'fuck you' to the idea of gravity and were currently floating through the air smugly. I looked away from the sky ducked out of the way of the rifts that the others had gone charging towards. I might be able to incinerate things but I still have no idea how I even did that before, I doubt that will be much use here.

"Let's go back to the main hall, I think I know how we'll open that door," Dorian mused. I dropped the rocks that I had been using to pelt the Venatori and made my way down the scaffolding, I misplaced a foot and screeched as slid the rest of the way down the ladder.

6 glowing rocks in the door later and Alexius launched straight into his sob story. Leliana had grabbed the man that was kneeling on the floor. He barely even looked human by this point, Leliana was effectively holding his entire weight, and he could barely even stand.

"Felix," Alexius gasped, a hand outstretched towards his son. I saw it now, the armour he was wearing had not even changed, still that same mustard yellow.

"Leliana, put him down, he is not what we are here for," Lilia said slowly.

"Please don't hurt my son, I will do anything you ask," the once proud magister, begged her.

"I want the world back," blood sprayed from Felix's neck as she drew the knife across. I gagged slightly at the gurgling noise that escaped the man's lungs.

"NO!" Alexius' cry was filled with grief. He slammed his staff down and sent us flying backwards. Crap.

"Stay behind me!" Dorian yelled, twirling his staff. I nodded and took out my little dagger Harritt had given me all that time ago. Lilia was flitting in and out of sight, her daggers everywhere. Varric was not too far from us, Bianca was apparently not pleased.

"Dorian!" I shouted in panic. He glanced behind and shot a fireball in a wraiths face. There was a rift, a freaking rift. I grabbed him and pulled him away from a shade demon that was lurching towards us.

Bull yelled and smashed his axe into it. The air filled with the familiar sound of crackling and popping as Lilia closed the rift. Alexius let out a cry of rage and rushed back into the fray. I was pushed back against the wall as Dorian had thrown me out of the way of a forming fire glyph. Alexius fired.

"Shit," I yelled, making my way to Dorian's side. His body was twitching uncontrollably, not surprising, that was a bolt of lightning that just smacked him in the chest. Alexius fade stepped to the other side of the room.

"Wake up, wake up," I chanted frantically. I lay my hand against his chest, his heart was going crazy.

I whirled around, Alexius. He raised his staff and readied another spell. I screamed in rage, "I won't die here!" I drew on the power around me, there was so much here, it was overwhelming. I gritted my teeth against the pressure building up and released it at Alexius. My magic was out of control, there was too much too fast and it always seemed to be fire. The result being that half of the hall was now on fire. I breathed heavily, glaring into the flames where Alexius had disappeared.

Dorian was rising shakily from behind me; he reached down and grabbed a blue cube amulet.

"Lewis?" I vaguely heard Lilia say from behind me. A hand came onto my shoulder and squeezed. "I think he's dead. You can let go now." _How?_ "Lewis. Let go. He is dead. He can't hurt anyone any longer here. We need to go; we can stop this from ever happening."

I sucked in a deep breath and nodded. She dragged me away from the burning tapestries and towards the other end of the hall.

An ear splitting screech pierced through the air, I winced and covered my ears.

"The Elder One," Leliana breathed. "Cast your spell, you have as much time as I have arrows."

"I won't let you sacrifice yourself!" Lilia cried.

"Look at us, we are already dead," Leliana smiled humourlessly.

Dorian was casting his spell. Leliana recited what could only be a prayer. I blinked the tears from my eyes as Bull's carcass was tossed into the room, the doors bursting open. Lilia took a step forwards, "You move, and we all die!" Dorian grabbed her arm and shouted.

We were all interrupted by a shout from outside the doors, "CHRISTINA!" I froze, the blood draining from my face so fast my legs nearly gave out. Leliana screamed in pain as she died. The small rift Dorian's spell had brought forwards finally opened up and swallowed us, my last look of that nightmare was Leliana, her now lifeless eyes looking directly at us as we escaped.

"You'll have to do better than that," Dorian said lightly, his voice was surprisingly steady, the shock having delayed the fear in his mind. Lilia stepped up beside me, her small frame easily supporting mine as I continued to sway.

"You've won, there is no point in continuing this charade," he hung his head in defeat. "Felix."

"It's going to be alright father," he said gently.

"You'll die,"

"Everyone dies."

"Well I'm glad that's over with," Dorian chirped. Guards marched into the room in a perfect formation and stamped at a pillar for a second before turning around, staring straight ahead. "Or not," Dorian sighed. I did too. Those kinds of guards normally mean someone important, once again, I was so glad I was not in charge. Lilia groaned quietly as she saw who was coming in.

"King Alistair, Queen Anora," Fiona bowed clumsily.

I bowed myself and backed out of the room, muttering my excuses. I need a drink.

"Thought you would be here," Dorian said, letting himself into the room we shared. I had propped open a book, paper and quill in one hand and was attempting to make my way through the unfamiliar script.

"At least we don't have to write the report for that," I commented, I placed the quill and ink on the stand and buried my face in my hands.

"Was it that bad?" I looked at him, aware he was not asking about the reports.

"Yeah, Bull has a very vivid imagination," I said, staring at the scribbles on the page.

"It's late, you should try to sleep, we are heading back to Haven tomorrow after all," Dorian commented.

I laughed dryly, how can I sleep like this? I nodded though, he was right.

The room was silent as we had gotten ready for bed, the candle was blown out and we just lay there in the dark.

"Listen," Dorian said into the darkness. I did, the village was still quiet outside, the only sounds being the merchants packing up their wares and the tavern patrons downstairs. Then I listened to Dorian, he was thinking of a Tevene lullaby his nanny used to sing to him. She was an aging slave elf, he missed her still. I listened to her voice, still clear as the day he had last heard it, until I eventually drifted off to sleep.

 _Author's note_

 _Well that was fun, my brain had a bit of a mental block at the beginning I'm afraid and chrome is informing me of a few spelling mistakes in here. These are mostly American/British differences though as chrome is set to American English._

 _Anyway! Who knows her real name? Any guesses? Hehehe, this is where it diverges from canon a lot, warning you now._

 _Thanks to sandradee27, and Gemini-Fantasy for reviewing. And we got over 30 followers! *Squeals*_


	9. Chapter 9

The trek back to Haven was a long one. I dragged my aching feet alongside the rest of them quietly, the events at Redcliffe still having not escaped my mind. Bull knew what had happened but he was still trying to figure out what was so bad that I barely even spoke at all. I refused to tell them all the gory details, Lilia didn't even tell them everything.

Finally but not soon enough, the familiar silhouette of Haven was on the horizon. Lilia breathed a sigh of relief and led our merry band on.

"I need a bath, and a drink, maybe both," I muttered.

"Seconded," Dorian agreed from behind me. "However, I do not believe that a bath even exists here, believe me, I checked." I groaned.

After some begging Josephine we found one. Literal begging, she only agreed so that I would stop freaking out the guests. I smiled slightly as I sank back into the tub, it was a lot more basic than the ones I was used to and I had to ask Dorian's help in filling it, the ice then fire combination worked a treat.

I sank down into the warm water in contentment gad to be rid of the weeks of dirt that covered my body.

I could hear angry voices outside, Cullen and Cassandra by the sounds of it. Dorian was not letting them in. The door slammed open and I stared at the two who entered, my face half submerged by water.

"Ugh," Cassandra made her almost trademark disgusted noise while Cullen blushed bright red. How can he be such a prude?

"We need to discuss something with you, get dressed and meet us outside," Cassandra said, regaining her composure and staring at me.

"But it's so warm," I complained. She levelled her gaze at me, Christ she terrifying. I huffed and nodded. She turned on her heel and dragged Cullen out with her. Dorian peeked his head round, "What did you do?"

I just shrugged and shooed him out.

"He's a mage," Cullen stated. "We cannot have untrained mages here, it's too dangerous." They had been arguing like this for half an hour.

"Then Solas, Vivienne or Dorian can train him," Lilia said patiently.

"A Tevinter teaching magic?" Cullen said incredulously. I sighed.

"Yes, Dorian has since proven himself after all, and he wishes to stay and help us. Lewis can read him, if there is any plot to speak of, we would know by now," Lilia shot back. "We need him and we will teach him magic. It only makes more sense that those he is more comfortable with are the ones to train him."

Cullen stared at her and me angrily before storming out of the war room, I leant against the war table.

Lilia turned to me, "Go and find Solas, I have already told him about this. He will be teaching you control to begin with." I nodded and left the room, eager to get out into the fresh air. I passed Mother Giselle on the way, blessing some guy or something. She looked up and caught my eye, I blinked, there were depths to her that rarely saw the surface.

"Sit," Solas said, pointing to a rock, we were outside given it was more likely for me to burn down half the village than to master it in one shot. Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' began playing in the back of my mind, I smiled slightly.

"Focus," Solas' patient voice snapped me out of my daydreams.

"On what?"

"Your magic, close your eyes. Do you know what meditation is?" Of course I do, my ex made me do it for hours a day.

I nodded and got into a comfortable position and focused on my breathing. I used to have a mantra to help me get into the state but after a while I needed it less and less.

"Focus on finding your energy," His voice seemed so far away. Then, the outside world was nothing, the only thing in it being me. I felt it, I felt the magic inside me. It was hard to miss really, burning hot and fast, I reached out to it and screamed as it flared up and took over my whole body. My eyes shot open and I looked around, Solas had put up a shimmering barrier around himself, and I saw why. The majority of the snow around us had melted within a 5 metre radius.

"Found it," I joked weakly.

"So it seems. You must learn to control the outbursts," he said sternly, I nodded my head. "Maybe we should take a break," he suggested, I shook my head.

"You can if you want, I am going to stay here a bit," he looked at me and nodded.

I waited until he was out of the danger zone before closing my eyes again, I didn't even need to go into a meditative state this time, the magic was everywhere now. I opened my eyes and looked at a unassuming rock. Pushing my magic out towards it, I squealed as a massive ball of fire hit it and dispersed into various directions. Why fire? I shrugged and continued to practice, determined to get it to a level where I will at least not be a danger to the entire tavern.

Exhausted, I dragged myself up to Varric's and my room.

"Chuckles said you were practicing," I nodded, only just having enough sense to change into a loose shirt and pants before sinking into bed. Varric mumbled something about cards and made his exit.

The next morning we were gathered in the war room.

"I am most curious about this name you heard being shouted out," Leliana mused, looking down at the reports. "Christina, was it not?" Lilia nodded. I forced my face into a mask of indifference, while my heart was threatening to beat out of my chest.

"I will send some scouts to find a lead, maybe she can help us figure out who this Elder One is," She muttered, or maybe she has less of an idea than you do.

I made my exit after that; the room had suddenly become too small. Solas had given me a staff in the hope that it might allow me to control my magic better, it didn't work, the wood just splintered whenever I tried. So, there I was in the same spot as before, throwing fire at a rock. I had improved to the point where the fireballs actually look round and not just a flaming mass being hurtled across the ground. I smiled and walked back to the tavern to work on my reading.

I was sitting on my bed when Dorian walked in; paper was strewn about the place with the English alphabet against the Thedas common version. A book was open by my side as I was attempting to figure out the grammar.

"I figured you needed a break, so I brought that mead you seemed to like so much," He said offering me the bottle, I smiled gratefully and gathered up the papers before he saw the normal Latin English I was writing in.

We sat, drinking and chatting for a while, I was glad the alcohol had the same effect as before, I was sitting in blissful silence, in my head that is. Dorian was on a rant about Vivienne's clothes.

"She thinks she dresses to intimidate, however I have seen whores in Minrathous dress not dissimilar to her," he tilted the bottle back, I looked on in amusement. He turned to look at me, it was a few seconds before I realised I was staring at him, I turned away with heated cheeks.

He chuckled slightly, "Shall we walk?" I nodded.

I shivered as we stepped put into the brisk cold air, night had long since fallen and the village was winding down for the night.

"So why do you think the others are losing their minds of this Christina?" Dorian mused.

"They think she can find out who the Elder One is," I replied shortly.

"And you don't think so?" He pushed.

I shrugged, "I don't know, I think it is a long shot, maybe she is just some unlucky girl at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Silence fell between us, we walked past Lilia talking with Cullen and watched as Cullen slowly went through various shades of red.

"The poor fellow, our dear Herald is going to run him down," Dorian looked over at the two, I snickered. "Now, now, at least try to control that dirty mind of yours," he reprimanded me. Lilia looked over to us, lifted her hand behind her back and gave us the two-fingered salute. We burst out laughing.

"Let's go before we find daggers flying towards our face," I suggested.

We ended up sitting on a rock with our booze, looking over the frozen lake. I frowned at the empty bottle in my hand and took a swig of Dorian's wine. He huffed at me but didn't say anything.

I lay back and look up at the breach, my drunkenness helping keep the cold at bay. We stayed like that for a while, me on my back staring at the sky and Dorian sitting, looking across the lake. I almost wished I wasn't drunk so I could hear his thoughts but quickly dismissed the idea. The temporary peace was welcome.

 **Author's note**

 **Well that was a long wait. I had writers block and a cousin of mine is doing a crossover fic with dragon age that I have been Beta-ing. You guys want the next chapter as a main quest or little ones? The other storyline I have won't be ready to go for a few chapters yet. The winter palace should be fun :D**


End file.
